I’m not sure if this is answered in the books at all, and I read them a good while back. Who else would have been able to carry the ring as far as Frodo did without being corrupted?
Probably only Hobbits, Bilbo carried it for quite awhile.
I bet Tom Bombadil could have done it. But he wouldn’t accept the assignment.
Sam carried it part of the way. Faramir knew better than to carry it, so he’s out. Ditto Gandalf and Galadriel. A younger Bilbo would have managed.
Cripes, there has to be someone else worldwide, than the ultimate who did wasn’t worth a flip, Frodo, aren’t there any athletes in Middle Earth, or true believers better physically and mentally equipped than a friggin’ hobbit? Come on!
GoB reference
No. That’s the whole point of the story. A stronger more powerful person (e.g. a warrior or a king) would be more likely to succumb to the ring.
What was needed was spiritual strength. Moral fiber. Inherent vitality. Nobody had more of that than the hobbits, and Frodo in particular.
I wouldn’t call it moral fiber so much as an entirely different value structure. Frodo did not want power–he was not very ambitous. IMO, only someone who recognized the Ring’s power but did not desire it could successfully carry it. Even that is not quite accurate, but I am off to a party now. (sorry!) Perhaps Merry and Pippin could have.
There were Hobbits who were power hungry-Bagshotts(?) and others who would do you down in a heartbeat for material things.
Maybe Legolas? He seemed more interested in learing about Middle Earth than in proving Elves above all.
Aragon could have, IMO.
The eagles? 
No, I don’t think even Aragorn could have done it.
The One Ring commands control over it’s bearer in direct proportion to the powers of the bearer. For a person of power and influence to carry it would mean even greater temptation to use it (and be overcome) than Frodo faced. And remember, he eventually fell to the Ring.
It was precisely BECAUSE Frodo was such a bit-player that he was a suitable bearer.
Which reminded me of this:
What about Sam? I sometimes think he could have carried it even better than Frodo, except Frodo would not have been able to support Sam in the way Sam did Frodo. Sam had even less ambition than Frodo, and I wonder if Sam would have thrown it away in the end easier.
Sam even carried it for a short while, albeit not on his finger.
Sam wore the ring, after Frodo was poisoned by Shelob.
IMHO, Sam lacked the will to carry on for the sake of the quest. He had more than enough will to carry on for the sake of Frodo, and if not for Sam, Frodo would have failed many times, many ways, which weren’t probably redeemable like his final failure was. And Sam was probably the only other one who could have worn the ring within sight of Mordor itself and not succumbed to it. But it was only later that he grasped just what being a ringbearer truly meant, and he was not willing/able to bear that thought long.
Besides, it seems that Frodo was destined to be ringbearer by Eru himself.
yeah, you know, I couldn’t remember. I started to say “on the chain” then hesitated, then “on his finger”, then hesitated, then picked one. Chose wrong.
I dunno about the Eru thing, but I agree with you pretty much completely. I think he might have had a small chance at being another, but yeah, he might not have been able to stick to it.
Quadgop the Mercotan could have carried the ring to Mount Doom. Hell, anyone could have carried it as long as there were a couple watching him, ready to shove him into the crevice of lava should he decide to keep the ring for himself.
That sure would have made the journey a lot shorter, wouldn’t it? The Eagles could have made the trip in a day. Why didn’t Frodo ride and eagle and just fly over the mountain and drop in the ring???
That’s not a specific enough answer, I’d say, as I don’t think all hobbits could have done so, or even MOST hobbits. Bilbo, were he younger and not already “stretched” from 60 years of bearing, could have; and I think Merry could have. Sam and Pippin, probably not. Lotho, definitely not.
Oh, and Farmer Maggot, if he could have been persuaded.
Bill the donkey. No one suspects a donkey. Stealth donkey. Give him an Elven cloak.
Because the Nazgul would have noticed a bunch of big giant Eagles in a heartbeat. Or even one. The only advantage Frodo had was one of surprise. Whodathunk the good guys would hand over the Greatest Treasure ever to a 4 foot little man? Sauron certainly didn’t.
Evil sows the seeds of its own destruction.
Not after Hotel California.
Nitpick: Bill was a pony. A stealth pony.
I’m intrigued. Tell me more?